The Philip Barbour Colts will head out on the road to face off against the Keyser Golden Tornado at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Philip Barbour has nine straight wins, Keyser has 11 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Philip Barbour had to skate by with only a two-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 12-run drubbing they dealt Tucker County on Thursday. The Colts' pitchers stepped up to hand the Mountain Lions a 12-0 shutout. The Colts might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won eight contests by six runs or more this season.
Cameron Bennett looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and only one walk).
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Nick Gonzales, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and one double. Grant Harris was another key player, going a perfect 1-for-1 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Philip Barbour hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least three batters in three consecutive matchups.
East Fairmont hit Keyser with a five-run seventh inning on Friday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Golden Tornado fell 7-4 to the Bees.
Keyser saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mikey Mongold, who went 1-for-2 with one run and one RBI. Another was Cole Holland, who earned two runs and one stolen base.
Philip Barbour's victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-2. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Keyser, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-16.
Keyser's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Philip Barbour has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .452. It's a different story for Keyser, though, as they've only averaged .360. Will they be able to contain Philip Barbour's hitters?
Philip Barbour skirted past Keyser 9-8 in their previous matchup back in May of 2019. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Colts since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
